Awake My Soul
by falsecompare
Summary: After Blaine Anderson-Berry had been attacked at Sadie Hawkins, he lost all of his sense of strength and what it meant to just be himself. It figures that the person that would make him feel most like himself would be the biggest skank of them all, Kurt Hummel.
1. Chapter 1

Kurt Hummel was eight years old when he first heard _that _word, the f-a-g-g-o-t word. He had stopped walking in the middle of the hallway on his way back from the bathroom, hall pass in his hand and a shocked look on his face. How did he know? Kurt rubbed his forehead; it wasn't written up there was it?

Kurt's hurt had faded and was replaced with a stony anger that he showed whenever Noah Puckerman walked by him shouting the F word in his direction. It was on the last day of his fifth grade year that Kurt's anger took over his fist. Noah Puckerman had been walking past his lunch table when Kurt felt a hand on his shoulder, shoving him into his bright red lunch tray hidden under a large spoonful of mashed potatoes. The lumpy food was all in Kurt's hair and on his blue polo and that was all that his ten year old self could take. Kurt had stood up from his spot next to Mercedes Jones, his then best friend, and yelled out four words that had changed his life.

"Hey Puckerman, eat shit!" When the mohawked kid had turned around, Kurt was ready, rearing his fist back and punching Noah Puckerman straight in the nose. And then all hell broke loose. Fists flew between the two boys until a teacher pulled them apart by the collars of their shirts.

Later, as they sat side by side outside of the principal's, Puck reached out a fist in Kurt's direction.

"That was a wicked right hook, bro." The fist is practically staring Kurt in the eye; why isn't Puckerman hitting him again?

"Thanks, Noah." Kurt tentatively touches his knuckles to the other boys and then looks at the ground. _So weird. _

It's even weirder when Puckerman acknowledges him in the hallway and then starts hanging out with him at break and wants to know his schedule and then doesn't leave him alone ever. They are suddenly good friends and by the time their freshman year of high school comes around and the hockey team shows just how big of douchebags that they are, Kurt realizes that having Noah Puckerman as his best friend could be a really good thing…

* * *

Blaine Anderson-Berry loves books. The covered the shelves of his bedroom, a hodgepodge of brightly colored covers and fonts, decorating his walls with more culture than a painting could ever do. Every day in middle school, Blaine would come home with a new book for his ever-growing bedroom turned library. Blaine had found out that it was a lot easier to read about the life of Holden, Charlie, or Harry rather than live his own life.

When Blaine was thirteen, he realized that he did not like girls the way that his best friend, Mike, liked girls. No one hated Blaine for liking boys. His parents, Hiram and Leroy, were very accepting and his sister, Rachel, was more worried about memorizing all the songs from Rent to spare time for Blaine. He was under the impression that being openly gay was totally okay; that was, until he was fifteen. Who knew that a Sadie Hawkins dance could be so brutal? It took Blaine an entire year to fully recover and he still has trouble if he hears noises that are too loud.

So as Blaine entered his junior year of high school and his sister started her senior year, they did it at William McKinley High School. However, on his first day at the new school, Blaine did not know that his life would be changing very soon and all because of a tall boy with pink hair and a leather jacket.


	2. Chapter 2

Blaine never tries to attract attention. He walks with his head down, does not answer questions in class, and he tries not to look too interested in what the people in his classes say no matter how interesting that Kurt guy sounds. Blaine also has a theory about where to sit in the classroom to not draw attention but still makes good grades; it is all in the far front seat. The desk farthest from the door on the very front row is where absolutely no one sits. So Blaine is not surprised when he finds it empty in Mr. Lawrence's chemistry class, and he does not hesitate to take it and when no one sits in the desk behind him that just makes it even better. As the bell rings and Mr. Lawrence starts to call roll and hand out the syllabus for this year, Blaine listens attentively. He writes his name in a messy scrawl in the top left corner, and then clips the papers into his binder. Mr. Lawrence is half way through the syllabus and how they will study states of matter in chapter thirteen when the door swings open. Blaine, like every other previously half asleep student, snaps his head in the direction of the entrance where a tall boy in all black stands, a smirk decorating his thick lips.

"Kurt, how nice of you to join us. I see you are going to spend another year with us in chemistry. What a surprise. "

The sarcasm in Mr. Lawrence's voice is not lost on Blaine or any of the other students. Blaine's eyes had widened, not at what Mr. Lawrence had said but at who this was. Kurt. Blaine had heard many people talking about Kurt, namely his sister when she would come home and complain that she couldn't go over to her boyfriend's house because Kurt was there. Now though this boy, _Kurt, _was everything and nothing that Blaine had heard before. He did have the pink streaked hair and the nose ring, and Blaine could see the slightest bit of writing on his chest where his black t-shirt didn't cover, which he assumed was the tattoo he'd heard about when he was at his locker this morning. However, he'd never heard of how tall he was or how pointed his features were, as if he were an elf, and not one of those people that Blaine had overheard had said how absolutely beautiful he was.

"Oh come on Albert, you know I can't get enough of you." Kurt throws a salacious grin in the educator's direction before walking right toward Blaine.

_Oh, my God_ Blaine thinksand his internal mantra can't decide where it hopes that Kurt does sit behind him or whether it hopes he doesn't because then Blaine's sure that he will not be unnoticeable. Or perhaps he would… Standing next to a beautiful boy like Kurt, Blaine was sure that no one would even look at him twice. Blaine watches as Kurt's feet take purposeful steps right up to his desk. Kurt stands there, heels together and eyes appraising, before he opens his mouth. His voice is high and sweet on Blaine's ear. Blaine wondered how he had not noticed that before.

"You're in my seat."

Before Blaine knows he's done it, he's standing grabbing all of his things and moving them onto the desk behind him. As Kurt takes what had been Blaine's seat, Mr. Lawrence starts back up, moving on the chapter fourteen and describing what they will study then. Blaine tunes his teacher out in favor of memorizing what the back of Kurt's head looks like. He can see the sharp points of the back of his earring and smell the cigarette smoke that rolls off of him in waves. The boy's hair falls perfectly down the back of his head, dark pink clashing beautifully with the porcelain of his skin. Blaine's stomach jumps into his throat. How is it possible for one person to be that attractive? He doesn't know how long he stares at the curve of Kurt's neck or the collar of the black t-shirt, but it must be a long time. When Blaine blinks, he hears a ringing and suddenly everyone is in motion. Slamming his notebook shut and stuffing it in his satchel. When Blaine looks up from packing away all of his things, Kurt is gone.

* * *

Later that night, as Blaine lies in his bed and stares at the darkness of his ceiling, he can't help but feel embarrassment for how fast he followed Kurt's unspoken command. He didn't flinch or second guess. He just moved. God, the people in his class must have found him to be utterly ridiculous, following the orders of just anyone. Deep in his gut, fear settled, hot like the flames of shame, would it be like last time? Would Kurt boss him around, using him and abusing him, before setting him up for the beating of his life?

_Stop._ Blaine rolled over onto his side. It was one silly thing. He wouldn't sit there tomorrow and no one would remember. As his eyelids grew heavy and a deep breath racked his lungs, Blaine pleaded to whoever was listening. _Please just don't let them notice me. _

* * *

Kurt is not in class the next day, but Blaine still doesn't sit in the seat. He wonders away half the class on where Kurt may be, before realizing that he should probably pay attention to what was going on in the world of chemistry. Kurt never shows up for Chemistry.

Blaine wouldn't say that he looked for Kurt in the hallway as he walked to lunch with Mike, but he certainly didn't not look for him. As Mike tries to convince Blaine to come to glee that afternoon and try out (which does not fit in Blaine's plan for going unnoticed, thank you very much Mike Chang), Blaine scopes the cafeteria for Kurt's pink hair and tries not to be upset when he doesn't find him.

"Geez Blaine, are you paying attention?" Mike asks, when Blaine almost trips over his own feet.

"Yes. Sorry, Mike. I was looking for someone…" Blaine trails of, raking his eyes across the lunchroom one last time.

"Who? Rachel?"

"Yeah Rach-," Blaine tries to get Rachel's name out, but before he can he runs straight into someone's back - a very big someone.

"Oh my God. I'm so sorry!" Blaine starts, holding his hands out. The large guy before him turns around, an angry look on his face and then Blaine sees him. It's Kurt and he's looking at Blaine with a confused face. And then Blaine feels it – his throat closes up, and his legs give out and the last thing he hears is a high voice saying exactly what Blaine wishes he could.

"Shit."


	3. Chapter 3

When Blaine wakes up, it's from his rolling stomach. It feels as if his stomach has decided to go sailing, leaving its body behind to deal with the turbulence of the choppy water. He's barely opened his eyes, when he feels his stomach give a particularly odd jolt. He feels someone's hand on the back of his head, pushing him forward and over the edge of the bed. A second pair of hands keeps his torso on the mattress. The acrid stench of vomit fills the room as Blaine releases it. His eyes water as his throat loosens once more, the bucket that he knows his father must be holding, being filled again. He gags once more, chest heaving forward and cheeks puffing out. Nothing. He gags again. Nothing.

"It's alright." The hand on his waist strokes the skin there, soothing Blaine and relaxing only some of the tension in his body. Blaine feels himself being lowered back onto the bed, and he keeps his eyes closed even as he feels the salty tears leak from underneath his eyelashes. Shame sweeps into his belly, hot and full. How ridiculous he must have looked freaking out for no reason and fainting in the cafeteria. He can hear the jeering laughs in his head. _What a faggot. _A cool washcloth is settled over his forehead.

"It's going to be alright, Blaine. Just another spell. You're alright now, honey." Blaine drifts back into a restless unconsciousness, the dark blanket of sleep sweeping over his mind and blocking out the memories and shame.

Blaine had started having these spells about two months after the Sadie Hawkins Dance. His therapist called it Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, an anxiety disorder in which he would experience the same feelings he felt during the attack but in everyday activities brought on by something he could associate with the encounter. Thankfully, Blaine didn't have the fits of rage that Hiram and Leroy had heard about on the news that were so common with veterans, but he did have these spells; these horrifying spells in which his throat would close up, he would have tremors, and ultimately faint only to be woken by nausea. When he was diagnosed, the therapist had told him that they would be caused by weird things, tiny little occurrences that shouldn't have affected him in any way; the gunfire on Bonanza when Cooper watched it on Saturday afternoon, Rachel's high F in Defying Gravity, the sharp insistent honking of Leroy's car when he accidently hit the PANIC button. After the first few months, in which Blaine had had a spell at least once a week, they died away only returning when someone dropped something ridiculously heavy or when someone would grab him roughly from behind. Cooper had learned that the hard way. He hadn't had one in so long, only plagued by his hypervigilance when they went out, scoping out for danger, for big guys in letterman jackets with crowbars.

"It was probably just the stress from starting public school again," Leroy says, after he comes back in from cleaning out the large purple bucket. Hiram agrees, but Rachel, who is standing in the door way, does not. She flees from her spot, up to her bedroom where she concocts a plan to confront the skanks the next day at school.

* * *

Blaine sleeps soundly through the rest of the night, woken by his alarm clock at six the next morning. He rubs a hand over his face, turning onto his back and staring up at the ceiling. The rolling in his stomach has subsided to a dull queasy feeling not making him nearly sick enough to miss school. Blaine sits up in his bed just as his father walks through the door, holding a mug in one hand and two pills in the other.

"G'morning Blaine, are you feeling alright?" Hiram offers the boy both the mug and pills. Blaine downs them both without asking what they are – he already knew anyway: an aleve for the headache that will creep in soon and tofranil for his anxiety.

"Yeah, just a little queasy. " He pushes himself up from the mattress and over to his closet, pulling out his black and white striped top and red crop pants.

"You sure you're okay for school today? You know that no one will blame you if you don't show up." He asks, watching as Blaine pulls off his t-shirt and pajama pants. Blaine turns around, pushing his curly hair back from this forehead, and walks back over to his dad.

"Dad, it's only the third day. I have to go," Blaine says, "Not for anybody else, but for me. I've waited a long time for this. I can do it."

"Alright. Hurry up and get dressed then. Finn is picking you and Rachel up at seven thirty." With a kiss on the forehead, Hiram leaves Blaine to wait for Rachel to get out of the shower so that he can get ready for the day.

When Blaine and Rachel get to school, she leaves him at his locker with a smile, tugging Finn off to their first period class with a "see you later." He deposits the trigonometry book and his light blue notebook for Spanish II before making his way towards AP English. Blaine has learned to block out the harsh yells as the rest of the kids greet their friends and he can block out the sound of their lockers slamming shut. However, Blaine cannot deal when people grab him from behind. So when he feels the hand on his shoulder, fingers digging into his skin, it's hard not to feel the bat against his shoulder, hear the hate in his ears. He whips around, fist coming up and ready to hit back like they'd taught him in boxing class. He braces himself for the bright red letterman jackets and bad haircuts of someone on the football team but it's nothing like what he expects. Kurt stands there, his hand still floating in the air after being kicked off by Blaine's quick turn. Blaine stares wide-eyed as Kurt jerks his hand back and juts his chin out after seeing Blaine's fist. It almost terrifies him how the fear drains from him, replaced by nerves. Surely, Kurt isn't going to try and hurt him. Blaine's fist falls limp and down by his side.

"You, uh… Are you feeling better?" Kurt looks so uncomfortable, his hand coming up to rub at his neck before sliding into the pocket of his leather jacket. Blaine takes in Kurt's unreadable expression, focusing his eyes on the nose ring for a few seconds before he pulls back and stares Kurt in the eye.

"Y-yeah. I am. Thanks for, uhm, asking." Blaine smiles slightly, gripping the strap of his satchel and kind of taking a step backwards as he plans to go into the classroom.

"Good. See you…uhm, see you later." Kurt nods at him, walking around him and down the hall, his boots clicking as they meet the linoleum floor. As Blaine takes his seat, far front as assigned to him by his request, the reality really hits him that McKinley's resident badboy , and he nearly cracks up calling Kurt that in his head, had just asked how he was. He cared about Blaine. If Blaine didn't pay attention at all during English, it totally wasn't because of what happened in the hallway.


	4. Chapter 4

Blaine tries not to feel proud that he makes it through lunch with no spells. He finds his seat with Rachel at the lunch table, eating his spaghetti and laughing when Rachel's friends make jokes. It's almost like he's been there from their very beginning. That is until they are leaving the cafeteria and Rachel's friend Sam throws an arm over his shoulders and says, "Hey man, I'm really sorry about what happened to you." And then Blaine doesn't feel so comfortable anymore… Were Rachel's friends only being nice because he had been beaten up or worse - because she told them to? Blaine nods at Sam, grabbing Mike's sleeve and tugging him away toward the gym where they have P.E.

"Woah, Blaine, everything okay?" Mike asks, following Blaine around the turns of McKinley before they get to the gymnasium. The smell of sweat overwhelms Blaine as he enters the boys' locker room where all of the other guys with P.E. are changing into their black shorts and red t-shirts. He looks over his shoulder to reply to Mike. "Everything is fine. I just didn't want to be late."

Blaine finds his locker, number 146, and opens it to get out his gym clothes. Keeping his eyes focused on the dark back of his locker, Blaine strips off his pants and top to replace them with the standard. He's half way through pulling his shirt on when he hears a rough voice across the room.

"Hey faggot, you in this gym class?" Blaine almost turns around and then he doesn't. _It's not you. It's not you. He's not talking to you. _Blaine tugs his shirt down and reaches in the locker for his white sneakers.

"Don't worry, Karofsky, chubby boys in a jockstrap really aren't my type." Blaine's hands pause in their motions of tying his shoes when he hears the voice, _Kurt's voice. _Mike gives him a weird look, but Blaine shrugs him off, straining his ears to hear the next part of the conversation.

"Don't push me, Hummel. I don't like you spreading your fairy dust around me when I'm changing." The words end and Blaine can tell that they come through clenched teeth. The next part is what throws Blaine off balance. He hears a loud bang, like a gunshot, like a bat connecting with bone. Blaine feels himself become hyper aware of everything; Mike's face right in front of his and the pounding of his heart in his ears to the rapid rhythm of _ .Ihavetogetoutofhere._ He stands up quickly, falling backwards onto the lockers and sliding to the floor. He tries to breathe in, but nothing happens. He gasps, or he thinks he does. Why is everything getting fuzzy? "Help. Somebody help! Blaine, what's wrong? Talk to me." Blaine tries to focus on Mike's face, but it keeps swimming in and out of focus and suddenly Mike's face is gone and Kurt's is in its place. Blaine feels another rush of panic rush through his body. He doesn't look around because he's sure that everyone else in the locker room is staring at him too. Blaine's eyes roll back but then something pulls him back in. He's being moved. Someone swoops in behind him, pulling them to their chest.

"Blaine, listen to my voice, okay? Now lean as far back into me as you can. Okay, now focus on how I'm breathing and try to breathe with me." Blaine tries so hard to listen, tries to breathe just like he's told. He focuses as much as he can, but there is still fear rolling around in his chest, especially when he looks up and sees a huge guy in a letterman jacket. His breath quickens. "No. Blaine, breathe with me. You are doing so well. You are so good. "

Blaine tries to make his chest rise and fall with the boy's behind him, and then he feels a hand resting on his chest, over his heart. "Okay, now I'm going to say some stuff to you, Blaine, and I want you to repeat it. If you can't that's okay, just try. You are fine. Repeat after me, okay? You're fine."

"I'm fi- ine." It comes out of Blaine's lips in choppy breathes, and he reaches up, gripping onto the hand on his chest, holding it tightly. His finger nails pierce the skin.

"You are so brave and no one is going to hurt you."

"I a-am brave and… and no one…is g-goi-going to h-h-hurt me." He leans back and looks at the person next to him, pink hair sweeping forward onto Blaine's forehead when he rests his skull onto Kurt's shoulder. Kurt's lips find his temple, and he speaks again.

"Nothing is going to get you while I'm here. You are fine."

Blaine can feel his heartbeat slow as Kurt speaks, like everything actually is fine. The panic dissipates, ebbing out like water in the ocean. He knows that eventually it will come back, sparked by something else, but right now everything feels okay. "Nothing is going to get me while you're here. I'm fine." His words come out, stable and sure. Kurt's hand moves from its spot on his chest. Blaine closes his eyes and lets himself relax into Kurt's chest for just a moment, and when he does a large whistle pierces through the room.

"What the heck's going on in here? Get your tails on the court." He hears the squeaks as sneakers make their way out of the locker room and Mike leans down in front of Blaine again.

"I'm gonna explain what happened. I'll be right back, okay?" Blaine closes his eyes again, faintly hearing the sound of Mike talking to the gym teacher. Kurt's lips are against his temple again.

"You feel better?" Kurt's hand, still resting on his chest, rubs back and forth over the crimson of his t-shirt. Blaine nods, keeping his eyes closed and trying to breathe. It's hard to adjust to the fact that his therapist had said that the only way to deal with the attacks was to just deal with them and then rest when they were over. She never mentioned a boy with pink hair could help Blaine enough, calm him down enough, and make him feel safe enough to not have to go through with them.

"H-how did you know… know what to do?" Blaine tightens his grip on Kurt's wrist, when he starts to pull it away and Kurt gently presses it back against Blaine's collarbone.

"After my mom died, I used to have panic attacks. They taught my dad what to do when I had them and I just... well, I thought that was what you were going through and I just thought maybe that was what you needed, yaknow; someone behind you, telling you how great you are. And I've seen when you pass out, Anderson; it ain't pretty. "

Mike comes around the corner right when Kurt is finished, pulling Coach Beiste with him. She looks down at them, running a hand through her curly hair before nodding.  
"Okay, Anderson, are you feeling better?" She keeps her eyes focused on his, ignoring Kurt.

"Yeah… I- I'm okay." He loosens his grip on Kurt's wrist and tries to stand up, stumbling a bit until Kurt's hands reach up and grab at his hips.

"Steady. Why don't you go to the nurse's office?" She suggests and Blaine feels Kurt get up and move around him, walking down to his locker to change his clothes. He hadn't even noticed that Kurt was still in his leather jacket and combat boots.

"N-no. I'm fine. I want to exercise today. I'm fine. I promise." He nods at her, walking past and out towards the court. Mike looks at Coach Beiste and then turns to look at Kurt, who is walking past him in his gym clothes and a pair of all black hi-top converse.

"What the fuck are you looking at?"

Kurt leaves the locker room, following Blaine out to the court. Coach Beiste looks at Mike then.

"Well what are you waiting for, Chang? Get your butt on the court."

* * *

Later, after Blaine is at home and changed into his pajamas, does he really think back on what happened? How could Kurt have just come in and down what he needed someone to do so much last year?

"…_how great you are…"_ Blaine's stomach flipped. Kurt thought he was great and had helped him come down from a spell, like it was no big deal. But then… Kurt didn't look at Blaine all through the rest of gym. As they warmed up, he did his jumping jacks and stretches behind Blaine and then he ran ahead of them while they were doing their three laps around the gymnasium, but not once had he met Blaine's eyes. He didn't even look as if what had happened in the locker room had affected him. But Blaine knew that what Kurt did had definitely affected him. He sighed, reaching to grip tightly to his pillow, holding it to his chest as he looked up at the ceiling. A knock on the door pulled him from his thoughts.

"Hey Blaine, I brought you some Oreos."

"And I've got the milk!"

Blaine laughed to himself, "Rachel told you about what happened, huh?" Rachel had come running up to Blaine after school, demanding a detailed account of what had happened, sighing sympathetically when he told her about the beginning of the spell and then staring in disbelief when he told her about Kurt.

"Yeah, but we want to hear it from you. You know that what you experienced is more important to know than what Rachel heard." As Blaine tells his fathers exactly what happened, eating his way through the entire plate of Oreos, he feels even more confused. What on Earth had Kurt Hummel done to him?

* * *

In her own bedroom, Rachel Berry wondered the same thing. What exactly did Kurt Hummel have on his mind when he comforted her brother? What was he planning? She sighed; she didn't know but she sure was going to find out…

* * *

"Rachel is coming down her really necessary. I mean, can't you just talk to Puck later? The skanks are yaknow… kind scary." Finn has a nervous look on his face and as much as Rachel would also like to turn back, they are already in skank territory.

The smell of cigarette smoke makes Rachel wrinkle her nose and she gags a bit when she spots a used condom on the ground next to her pink ballet flats. Now is probably not the time to regret coming down here. Rachel takes a calming breath and thinks of Blaine cuddled up on the couch with her dad watching _I Love Lucy_. He looked so small, like he did right after the attack. She takes another breathe_. He'll thank you later. _Pulling herself up to her full height, Rachel releases her boyfriend's hand and goes around the corner where she knows the skanks are.

The site before isn't exactly what she expects, but she realizes now that those rumors about Noah Puckerman setting puppies on fire are probably not even true. There is a beaten-up couch where Kurt Hummel lays with his head in Quinn Fabray's lap. Noah Puckerman is sitting on the ground, holding a dark brown bottle in his fist and cigarette between two fingers. They all look her way when she turns the corner and, although she would deny it, her knees quake in her bobby socks.

"Hello skanks. I would like to speak with you about my brother."


	5. Chapter 5

Blaine waited for the shame to seep in, for the realization that all of those guys had seen him at his most vulnerable to hit him like a twisted knife in the gut. But it never came. Blaine never felt the embarrassment hit him; that was until the next day in chemistry when Kurt did not even look in Blaine's direction. Blaine would love to say that it didn't affect him, that Kurt ignoring him was totally no big deal and that he did not try and catch his eye in gym. The truth however, which settled in Blaine's chest during dinner that night; said something entirely different. Blaine was hurt. He did not understand how Kurt could go from telling him how great he was to just acting like he didn't excuse. Don't get him wrong, Blaine didn't suddenly believe that he and Kurt were friends, but _"…how great you are…"_

Blaine would be lying beyond belief if he said that he hadn't replayed the words in his head at least a hundred times since they had passed Kurt's thick lips. They would pass through his brain during the most mundane activities, usually when he was taking notes on what the symbols and numbers meant on the periodic table. He would look up at Kurt's head, eyes sweeping over the dark pink locks, sculpted just so. He would sigh, knowing that Kurt was not going to turn around. He didn't look at Blaine when he passed back papers in chemistry, he didn't look at Blaine when they were paired up for relay racing in gym, and he didn't dare spare a glance at him when they ended up side by side in the lunch line. Blaine sat in a very conflicted spot, half of him was thrilled that Kurt wasn't noticing him, noticing how _messed up _he was; but the other half wanted to know just what Blaine had done to make Kurt so disgusted with him, just why he couldn't look at him…

As August passed and September came, Blaine gradually got over Kurt's neglect, if he could even call it that. Jesus, he didn't even know Kurt. All he did know was that he wanted to. He wanted to know all about when Kurt decided to dye his hair pink, his mom who had died, the tattoos on his arms and chest. He wanted to be friends with Kurt; he wanted to be _more_ than friends with Kurt.

* * *

It was just another day in chemistry when Mr. Lawrence announced that they would start doing labs soon. He gave them all a brief overview of what they would be doing; burning magnesium would be the first and they would begin next week. Blaine sighed, glancing around the room, already seeing some kids declaring their partners and the jocks in the back knocking knuckles to theirs. Blaine sighed, already dreading having to raise his hand and tell Mr. Lawrence that he wouldn't have a partner in class on next Tuesday.

When class was over, Blaine made his way down the hall, dodging shoulders and backpacks. He made it to his locker, exchanging his chemistry book for his AP American History text book. Shoving it into his satchel and flipping the flap over, he closed his locker and made his way to the very end of the hall where the band hall was.

It was no secret that Blaine and his siblings loved to perform. Once upon a time, he had been as enthused by his talent as Rachel was but the dance had nipped that in the bud. Now though, the band was a much safer choice than glee club. Nobody really noticed the band kids, and that was exactly what Blaine was looking for.

He made his way into the band hall, dodging the group of students that hung by the door, and over to his cubby. He pulled his oboe case out of the cubby replacing it with his satchel. Unlike the other students, he didn't wait around for their director to call them into the room. He made his way to his seat in the middle of the set, opening his case and beginning to put his horn together.

"Hey, Blaine!" Brittany Pierce said, making her way to the seat right next to Blaine. She pulled out her thin flute case and began to put her own instrument together. Brittany was a very sweet girl, Blaine knew this, but he didn't always like how she wanted to talk to him all the time. She didn't really fit in with Blaine's _Please Don't Notice Me_ philosophy.

"Hi, Brittany," He responded, popping his reed into his mouth and soaking it in as much saliva as he could. After making sure that all of his oboe's parts were perfectly together, he pulled out his warm up music and then pushed his reed into the hole, fixing it as he normally did so that the tone would sound nice. As Mr. Henderson pulled the band to set, Blaine played through the whole and half notes easily.  
Blaine really liked McKinley's band program so far. Their band director had been really nice, letting him join the concert band where he would be the only oboe player. It was a beautiful way to spend more time with music, other than the music that he played on his keyboard at home, in public. He was able to perform at their concerts and go on the trips to compete.

As he prepared for the F around the band, Blaine knew that, even though glee club didn't fit in with his plan, band certainly did. He was hidden among a group of people all trying to do the same thing, the same thing that Blaine was taught to do since birth: spread music to people who don't know that they need it, awake them with songs that touched them in ways they didn't know could.

* * *

Blaine finished out the day, still without a look from Kurt – not that he was expecting one really. He was grabbing all of his books from his locker when Rachel came to tell him that their dad would be picking him up and Finn was taking her home. When he asked if he could just ride with them, Rachel had given him a clear I'm-going-to-pretend-you-didn't-ask-that look and walked away, leaving him to gather his things and get out to his father's car alone. Quickly finishing stuffing his bag and locking his locker up, Blaine made his way to the exit.

It wasn't hard to spot his dad's candy apple red Ford in the parking lot. Blaine cut across the grass to get to the vehicle, tossing his satchel into the back seat before buckling himself in up front.

"Hey bud, how was school?" Hiram asked, cranking the car and pulling out of his parking spot.

"It was fine. Nothing really interesting happened. Mr. Lawrence talked about starting labs next week and I got a ninety five on the first English test," Blaine relayed, leaning up to fiddle with the dial on the radio. Turning it from the country station to rock to the main hits channel, Blaine stopped when a P!NK song came on the radio.

"Good job, Blaine! That's great," said his dad, reaching over to lay a hand on his shoulder and squeezing it affectionately. "Now, you don't mind going to the garage with me to get my inspection sticker changed. It's that time again."

"No, it's fine." Blaine leaned back in his seat as his dad drove them to the garage, turning in a way that Blaine was not familiar with at all. However, when his dad put the car in park and he was about to get out, he looked up and saw just where they were. The garage was fairly small but overhead stood a tall soon with the sign "Hummel and Sons Garage" and Blaine could almost feel like it was going to fall off of its stand and crush him and his dad's car. Blaine didn't want Kurt to think that he was coming here on purpose. _Maybe_, he thought to himself, _he won't be here. _

"Blaine, are you coming?" He closed the door to the car, hurrying to catch up to where his dad was holding the door for him. Following behind him, he entered the lobby area of the building. Hiram walked over to the counter where an older man sat, clicking away at a computer. "Go ahead and sit down, it'll be a minute."

Hiram stayed at the counter, telling the man what he'd come in for and then following him out the side door where their car was. Alone, Blaine picked up one of the thick magazines on the table and flipped through it. While he flipped through the pages of the magazine, stopping to read about Adele and her throat surgery, he didn't notice that the door opened and the clink clink clink of metal hitting metal. It was only the clearing of a throat that brought Blaine back into the lobby. He looked up and then felt his eyes widen. There stood Kurt in his dirty jeans that were oh so tight and a white t-shirt. His boots were everpresent. Blaine let his eyes sweep over Kurt's body another time, noticing the studded belt this time and the oil stained rag in his pocket.

"Anderson, what are you doing here?" Kurt kept walking, making his way behind the desk and open and closing a few drawers until he found a bottle opener. He reached around to the mini fridge and pulled out a glass bottle of 7UP. He popped the top and took a long swig. Blaine cleared his throat and then cleared it again.

"My dad is getting his car inspected." He winced at how much higher his voice sounded, and he cleared his throat for the third time.

"Hm." Kurt barely looked at him now, sitting down behind the desk with his drink. He placed his hand on the mouse and swiveled it around. Blaine wondered what he was doing.

Blaine lets the silence sit for a while, before he begins turning over different ways to say _thank you_ in his head, again. He feels the sentence build up in his throat and before he knows it, the words bubble over his tongue and spill out into the silence.

"You know, helping me out was really nice of you. I just want to say thanks, again." He leaves it out there and Kurt looks up at him, before turning back to the screen. He looks back up and opens his mouth only to be interrupted by the dinging noise of the door opening.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Hummel. I'm glad everything checked out."

"Sure thing and just remember that if you need anything else to stop by. Kurt's pretty good at an oil change." The man lays his hand on the boy's shoulder, laughing slightly.  
"Well thanks again. Blaine, let's get going. We've got to pick up our order from Breadsticks or your dad will have a fit. You know how he is about his lasagna," Hiram laughs and waves goodbye to Kurt and the man. He lays a hand on Blaine's shoulder as they leave, steering him out. Throughout the night, Blaine desperately wonders what Kurt was going to say before they were interrupted.

* * *

The next day, Blaine finds himself in chemistry as usual, but one thing is different. Kurt smiles at him when he walks and then when Mr. Lawrence reminds them all of the impending lab, Kurt turns around.

"Anderson, you wanna be my partner?"


	6. Chapter 6

Blaine honestly tries not to get too excited about working with Kurt in chemistry. However, it is hard to ignore the pink blush that stains his cheeks or the smile that he doesn't notice until Rachel asks him about it at lunch. Try as he might, Blaine can't seem to squash the hope that swells in his gut, the hope that maybe Kurt doesn't find him repulsive. He still likes him after what had happened in the locker room and that made Blaine feel worth so much. While he had friends, like Mike and Tina, Blaine ached desperately for Kurt's companionship. The way that he had spoken to him during his spell, like they had known each other for so long had made Blaine feel as if he was meant to be around Kurt.

Later that night, after Kurt had asked him to be his partner (and yes, Blaine had imagined himself being a very different kind of partner to Kurt), he tosses and turns in his bed, wondering how he had shifted from wanting to be invisible to hoping that Kurt was always looking at him. He rolls onto his stomach, propping his chin on the heel of his hand. Now the ache for invisibility had faded, only reappearing when the jocks walked past him in the hall. It never reared its ugly head when Kurt was around, at least not anymore. Blaine resolves, as he lay in his bed, that he didn't want to shy away from new relationships with people (read: Kurt), but that he did want to, and would always want to avoid the potential danger that followed around the jocks at school. Nodding to himself, Blaine finally felt exhaustion overcome him, dragging him into the dark of night away from his worries and into a land where Kurt was a whole other kind of partner.

* * *

When Tuesday finally rolls around, Blaine is beside himself. He jumps from his bed thirty minutes earlier than normal and picks out his favorite red bowtie. Knowing that the tie will make him feel even more pulled together; he sets it out on his dresser before heading down to the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee. His dad stands at the counter, holding his own mug and looking down at the paper.

Blaine may smile a little too widely, when he makes his cup of coffee, pouring in the creamer and stirring it a little too harshly. The liquid sloshes over the edges, and when Blaine blindly reaches for the paper towels, his dad is already there mopping it up.

"You're very peppy this morning, son." He says, winking at Blaine before turning back to his paper, "Something exciting happening today?"

"Hopefully." He whispers, cupping both palms around his mug and making his way back up the stairs. Rachel is walking into her bedroom when he gets to the top, so he makes his way right into the steamy room. Stripping off his clothes and gulping the last bits of his coffee, he jumps into the shower. The warm water wakes him up quickly shocking even more endorphins into his body. As he washes his hair, he even lets out the lyrics to "I Feel Pretty" from West Side Story.

After Blaine gels his hair down and brushes his teeth three times, he knows he's finally ready to pull on his outfit for the day. He slips on the grey crop pants easily, and then the white button down. Smoothing the red bowtie under his collar and silently whispering the steps of tying it, he flips and pulls until the tie is perfect. Blaine smiles at himself in the mirror, he's totally ready to face burning magnesium and to talk to Kurt as much as he wants for an entire hour.

_Just be cool. Please, be cool. _

* * *

First period passes quickly and before he knows it Blaine is making his way to the chemistry lab. He finds Kurt easily, pink hair standing out so obviously against the black topped tables. He makes his way over, dodging other people and taking the packet of instructions from Mr. Lawrence's hand. Smiling at Kurt, he moves to stand beside the taller boy, dropping his satchel to the floor.

"How's it goin'?" Kurt asks, popping the bright green gum in his mouth and smirking in Blaine direction. "Cute tie."

"T-thanks! I really like it." Blaine smiles up at Kurt, before turning to write his and Kurt's name on the top of his paper.

"Okay, class! Read over your instructions and answer the Pre-Lab questions while I call role and then you can get the supplies and get started," Mr. Lawrence instructs, beginning to call out names of the students.

Blaine and Kurt take their time reading over the packet and answering the questions as best they can; well Blaine answers them, Kurt just kind of furrows his brow and looks very confused. Blaine tries to hard not to find it cute – okay, so maybe he doesn't try that hard.

After they finish all of the questions, Kurt heads off to get the 10 centimeters of magnesium and all of the other requirements on the sheet. Blaine sets up the crucible and turns on the scale while he waits for Kurt and then, when he returns, they run like a well-oiled machine.

Kurt is one step ahead of Blaine, handing him this and that and measuring out the magnesium while Blaine writes in their answers on the actual lab questions. When they are almost finished, Blaine raises his hand to signal that he and Kurt are ready for Mr. Lawrence to come and actually burn the magnesium. He holds up a finger, telling them he'll be there in a minute.

"Well, Blaine, I have to say that we make a very good team," Kurt says, brushing his hands together before sticking them in his jacket pockets.

"Yeah, I wonder why we didn't talk about pairing up for other projects in chemistry before…" Blaine trails off, drawing a small smiley face in the corner of his paper.

"Well, you know why that is." Kurt says, chuckling at Blaine, raising his chin up to bring back the attitude that he had lost while they were working on the lab.

"Well… not really. I don't know why you stopped talking to me," Blaine confesses, peering up at Kurt from under his protective goggles. Kurt furrows his brow again, like he's just as confused by Blaine as he was by the Pre-Lab questions.

"Well, after what Rachel said to us, I was sure that you wouldn't want me to be around you anymore, so I—," Kurt says, but Blaine cuts him off.

"What are you talking about? What did Rachel say?"


	7. Chapter 7

Maybe it was Blaine's imagination, but he felt like the students in the hall parted like he was Moses and they were the red sea. His hand gripping tight around the band of his satchel and his oxfords clacking loudly on the linoleum floor, Blaine marched right up to Rachel where she stood just outside of the cafeteria. He gripped her arm, whipping her around from facing Finn so that she had to look him in the eye. Blaine could have sworn he saw panic flash in her eyes, like she was going to be slapped or killed.

"Why?" Blaine tries to add more words to question, but the only thing he can really think of is why; why would his sister go and threaten to have Kurt expelled if he talked to Blaine.

"_She said that if I talked to you anymore, then she would tell Figgins that I had assaulted you."_

Blaine's stomach turned over just remembering Kurt say the words, rolling around like it was on the Nausea Express. His own sister was trying to take away the first person that had willingly talked to him besides her friends.

"What are you talking about, Blaine?" She asked, raising her chin high so that she could just barely look down at him. He felt his eye brows lower and his chin jut out. _How dare she! _Her eyes shot over his shoulder and set into a harsh glare. "What are you doing with him, Blaine?"

Blaine already knew Kurt was behind him, had heard him calling his name frantically as he had stomped towards the cafeteria where Rachel would be getting ready to go to Mr. Holcomb's class across the hall. Blaine had paid Kurt no mind. His sister was betraying his trust in all ways he had hoped she was incapable of, like he had heard Finn berate her for doing whatever she had done to Sunshine Corazon.

"No, you don't get to ask questions. I want to know why the hell you would tell someone they couldn't come around me. Who gave you the right to say that?" Blaine holds his arms out, as if gesturing for the person who told Rachel to tell Kurt that he couldn't be around Blaine.

"You aren't well, Blaine! You're fragile; you can't hang around people like that, scumbags like him!" She shouts, pointing wildly over Blaine's shoulder to Kurt.

"Oh, screw you! You'll do anything to be the strong one, won't you? With Cooper gone, it's like you have suddenly pulled the big sister act, like you actually care about me and my feelings! Newsflash, Rachel, while you make think you are helping me out you are only worrying about you. That is what makes you a bad person!" Blaine barely hears Finn's indignant 'hey!' from behind Rachel, blind with his rage.

"That's a lie! I care about you so much, almost too much. I worry about you all the time. Every morning I hope that Karofsky won't decide that today is the day he should slushy you or shove you into a locker. I pray that someone won't slam their locker too hard. You are all I thought about when we first came back to school this year, Blaine; all I want is for you to be happy! And you cannot be happy with him!" Rachel points again at Kurt, who settles his hand on Blaine's back.

"Rachel, I can't get over this if I sit in a plastic bubble all the time! You can't always protect me. I have to make my own mistakes and learn, like you do every day. If you and our dads and Cooper walk in front of me the entire time, I will always live in fear. I… why are you holding me back?" Blaine's voice cracks and he feels tears build up behind his eyes, hot and embarrassing. He blinks and looks around, noticing that they are the only four in the hallway. Everyone else must be in class. When Blaine looks back at Rachel, he sees tears running down her cheeks.

"I… Blaine, I wasn't trying to. I promise, " she hiccups, "I just wanted Kurt to stay away from you. You don't even know him; just because he helped you with a spell, doesn't mean he's suddenly great. He's rude and he hangs out with Noah Puckerman and Quinn Fabray. Don't you remember that they had a baby? They are not good news, Blaine. You are making the wrong choice." Rachel reaches out for his arm, but Blaine takes a step back, bumping into Kurt's chest.

"You know what, Rachel, why don't you mind your own business, okay? And the next time that you think that I am a weak person, who can't make my own decisions, remember that I came back from an attack that left me in a coma for two months. If I can come back from that without your help, then I can make it without you," Blaine shakes his head, turning away from Rachel and walking down the hallway, Kurt following behind him. He hears the clink of the metal on his ever-present combat boots.

"Blaine." He hears his name flow from Kurt's lips, but he doesn't slow down. He doesn't quick walking until he gets to the boy's bathroom. Blaine hears Kurt follow him the entire way to the restroom, appearing behind him when Blaine looks at himself in the mirror. _Please, not now. _Blaine feels his throat close up and Rachel's words echo in his head.

_You're fragile._

_You're making the wrong choice. _

Planting his hands on both sides of the sink, Blaine tilts his chin to his chest, trying to breathe deep through his nose. His eyes clench shut, tears clouding behind them once again. Kurt takes a hesitant step forward, his hands resting on Blaine's lower back.

"Blaine? Can… can you talk to me?"

He shakes his head, and leans even farther forward, gagging.

"Hey, okay, look let's go sit down over here. You lean against this wall, okay? I'm gonna get a…" Kurt trails off - or maybe he just stops listening - pulling Blaine over to the wall, making slide down to the floor. Blaine sits heavy, keeping his eyes closed and leaning his head against the wall. Hearing the water run again and then feeling Kurt settle a wet cloth over his face, wiping away the tear tracks and the sweat that had already beaded on his upper lip.

"Blaine, listen, if you want to do what your sister said and you want me to leave you alone, I will. Don't worry about hurting my feelings, " whispers Kurt, taking a seat on the floor next to Blaine, brushing the cloth around his neck where the collar of his button down had become much too tight. Blaine's chest tightens with Kurt's words and he blindly reaches out, settling his palm on Kurt's leg. His grip is tight and it feels as if the threads that make up the tight black jeans are being embedded into Blaine's fingernails.

"Please don't… don't leave me." Blaine eyes stay closed and he squeezes tighter. Kurt pulls the cloth from his face, and tosses it up into the trash can before pulling Blaine from leaning against the wall to half leaning on him.

"Blaine, I won't go anywhere, okay? Just relax," Kurt says, brushing his hand over Blaine's chest before reaching up to undo the bowtie around his neck and undo the first couple of buttons on his shirt.

"Listen, it's really important for you to know that if you ever want me to leave you alone that you can tell me, okay? If you feel like Rachel is right, I'll leave," Kurt says, making his point again even though his arm is spread across Blaine chest, tucked under his armpit. Blaine reaches up clutches, Kurt's arm as close as he can get it.

"I don't want you to leave," Blaine says, "I, I like you a lot, Kurt."

He keeps his eyes closed, doesn't want to see Kurt's self-satisfied smirk. He managed to get the new damaged student to crush on him. _You're fragile. You're making the wrong choice. Scumbag._

"I like you too."

Blaine turns from Kurt's chest, looking Kurt in the eyes. "Y-you do?"

"Yeah, I really like you. You are a really brave guy, a lot braver than me actually," Kurt sticks his tongue in his cheek, before pulling it back to smile at Blaine. He raises an index finger to wipe a stray tear off of Blaine's cheek.

"W-would you want to go get coffee sometime?"

When Kurt nods, Blaine feels air fill his lungs again.


	8. Chapter 8

Tuesday, 4 p.m. Lima Bean

- Kurt

The note had been in his locker Monday morning, lying on top of his oboe case so innocently. He finds it early that morning and it floats over his head throughout the day, dipping below his eyes when it flees from his mind. As if he could forget.

Tuesday plays in fast forward for Blaine. He wakes up at his normal time, pulling on his clothes and running out of the house like he always does. He looks for Kurt in class, but he isn't there. And he doesn't show up for gym either. Blaine sighs, wondering if he should even bother going to the Lima Bean. He does though; his dad drops him off at three forty-five sharp with a call of 'Be safe!'

Kurt is already at a table when Blaine walks in, a drink in front of him on the table. He has a novel open on his lap and Blaine is staring down at it and Kurt for at least two minutes (which feels much more like two hours), before Kurt looks up at him and says, "Get a drink, B."  
Blaine tries very hard not to balk at the nickname, plucking Kurt's debit card from his fingers and heading off to order his medium drip. The nerves in his stomach are just settling down when the lady behind the counter hands him his drink and then he hears them. The bell on the door rings as the clear door opens and four of them file in; like a line of lions and Blaine is just a lonely antelope out in the open. His eyes lock on the tile in front of his feet, and he stops short when the herd of them cross in front of them. He only sees red as they pass and then Kurt who still has his nose in his book.

When Blaine makes it back to the table, he doesn't sit down. His hot drink sits heavy in his palm and Kurt looks up after Blaine has been standing there for a bit. "What is it?" He asks, closing his book and reaching to take a sip from his own cup.

"I… I… can we sit over there?" He doesn't look, just points blindly staring straight at Kurt's ear to avoid the annoyed glare in his blue eyes. However, if he had looked at Kurt, he would have only seen a furrowed brow and a confused glance around the café.

"Yeah, if you want to," Kurt stands, placing his hand with the book in his palm on Blaine's back, guiding him to a table in the far corner. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I just… don't want to sit by them…" He trails off, gesturing with a nod of his head at the group of red jackets flirting with the girl behind the corner.

"Oh, those neanderthals didn't even see us, B," He says, sitting his book off to the side and staring right into Blaine soul almost like he is trying to read into just why Blaine had to move. Desperate to change the subject, Blaine opens his mouth.

"What did you get?" He points to Kurt's tall drink, noticing his name written in black cursive on the side. He glances down and notices that the girl had heard him wrong if the _**Blake**_ on the side is any indication. He turns the cup so that the fake name faces his chest.

"Grande nonfat mocha. Always." He smirks, the piercing under his bottom lip moving funnily.

"What's that called?" He asks, placing the tip of his finger under his own lip, watching the metal on Kurt's face twitch around as he speaks.

"Labret," he says and then reaches up to the side of his nose, "nose and ears."

Blaine watches as Kurt twists the metal around, fascinated. It isn't as if he would ever get a piercing, someone could rip it out as they beat him up. His breathing picks up and then slows down when Kurt looks up at him.

"You have any?" He asks, winking over his cup as he takes a long gulp.

"No, of course not," He says, "but when Rachel got her ears pierced, I really wanted to get mine done too. My dad was all for it, but my other dad wouldn't let me."

"Really?" Kurt squints at him, smirking again,"I can't see you with your ears pierced; maybe a tongue piercing?"

Kurt winks again and flicks his tongue out between his thick lips. Blaine feels his cheeks up.

"So, you asked me out here, Blaine…" Kurt starts, sticking his tongue into his cheek and looking down at the white plastic top over his cup, "does this… is this a date?"

Kurt doesn't meet his eyes, but Blaine feels the heat flair up in his chest this time as well fluttering over his neck and painting his face and ears a cherry red.

"I… If you want."

Kurt nods at him, meeting his eyes.

"Finish your drink. I want to take you somewhere."

* * *

Riding a motorcycle is something Blaine never thought he would do, but as he feels the motor vibrating heavily between his legs which bracket Kurt's strong thighs, he's glad that he did. As they take steep turns and pass by the huge trucks on the highway, Blaine tightens his arms around Kurt's waist, holding him tightly.

"Where are we going?" He asks, shouting over the hum of the motorcycle and Kurt laughs in front of him, pulling off onto an abandoned road.

"You'll see." He says, slowing down the bike to a stop as they creep into the woods. Blaine feels fear sweep up into his throat. They are alone, hidden deep into the woods. "Don't worry. I just want to show you something."

Kurt pulls off his helmet, the pink hair falling easily back into place. Blaine wonders how he's managed to get it to do that and self-consciously pats his gelled locks back into place.

"Come on."

Kurt leads them around tall trees, occasionally looking back to see if Blaine is still behind me.

"Don't worry; it's not much farther." Just as he finishes his sentence, they emerge into a small opening with a lot of tree stumps.

"What is this place?" Blaine asks, glancing around and then looking back to Kurt who is sitting on one of the stumps.

"My dad used to bring me here after my mom died. I got these horrible panic attacks, yaknow? Anyway, he'd bring me out here and we'd just sit in the quiet for a long time. Maybe it's stupid but I would always breathe easier out here. "He looks up at Blaine from his spot, finding him standing right next to the stump.

"It's not stupid. I promise…" Blaine trails off, turning around and looking up at the opening between the tree tops and taking a deep breath. "So not stupid."

* * *

They don't stay long at Kurt's spot. Soon, Blaine finds himself tucked back behind Kurt's body on the bike, thigh to thigh and chest to back. Kurt doesn't take sharp turns like before, but glides through the roads until they get to Blaine's driveway. Kurt places his feet on the ground, turning the bike off and watching Blaine get off of the bike.

"Thanks for showing me your… well, you know." Blaine mumbles, pulling off his helmet and sticking it in the carrier at the back. Kurt shrugs, watching Blaine adjust his sweater and then smooth his hear down.

Blaine doesn't think twice before leaning down and placing a soft kiss to Kurt's cheek, before barely pulling away and whispering, "I know."

He turns away, feeling his heart fall into his stomach until he hears Kurt call out his name. Blaine whips around only to come face to face with Kurt.

"Is it okay… if I kiss you?"

Blaine barely registers himself nodding, but then it doesn't matter because Kurt presses his lips to Blaine's. The chapped skin presses softly together and then Kurt pulls back and Blaine licks his lips before kissing him again.

Reality slides back hard into Blaine's head when Kurt's palm rests heavy on his back. He places his hands on Kurt's chest, pushing him away.

"I-I'll see you later, Kurt. " He leans in to kiss his cheek again, before turning away and walking inside.


	9. Chapter 9

Can you guys please go to my profile and check out a poll, please? I would really appreciate it.

* * *

After their date, – which Blaine had decided that it definitely was a date, especially since there had been a kiss involved – Blaine found himself twirling around his bedroom. He does a pirouette, something both he and Rachel had learned in their ballet class, landing uncertainly and then tripping over his own feet. Hearing a snort behind him, he whips around finding Rachel leaning against the open doorway. He huffs out a deep breath, turning away from her and going toward his dresser, digging for a pair of pajama pants.

"So… why are you dancing around in your underwear?" She asks, inviting herself to sit on his bed.

He ignores her question, pulling his too long flannel pajama pants up to rest on his hips following it with a plain white t-shirt.

"Blaine… will you please talk to me? It's been four days." She says, reaching out and catching the edge of his t-shirt. Blaine stops and turns to face her.

"Rachel, I really don't have anything to say to you."

"I was just trying to help! You have to understand. " She pleads, reaching for his hand and pulling him onto the bed next to her. "I just don't want you to get hurt like before. I didn't want the football players to see you as a target because you were… displaying that you are gay."

"Displaying that I'm gay? What the hell, Rachel? What do you want me to do, shut myself back in the closet?" He asks, eyes squinting and anger covering his face like a mask.

"No! That's not what I meant! How can I make you see that I want you to be happy? I want you to be safe at McKinley and I just feel like Kurt can't help you with that."

"Rachel, Kurt never gets messed with. I have a class with him and no one ever messes with him. They don't even look at him funny. He has no problem with them; why would you think that they would hurt me just because I hung around him? They don't even look at him!" He shoves her hand off of his wrist, standing up.

"Okay… I- I see what you mean. I… I just hope you know that I want what's best for you," she says, standing up from his bed and looking at him with tears in his eyes.

He sighs, watching as she leaves the room. Blaine steps backward until the back of his knees brush the bed and falls back onto it. Closing his eyes, he thinks back to earlier, in the driveway when Kurt had kissed him. He feels the pressure on the small of his back and arches up; his chest brushing against what he wishes was actually Kurt's chest.

As he slides a hand down his own chest making its way happily into his underwear, his phone vibrates next to his air. Sighing, he reaches for it.

_Try not to jerk off to much to the memory of that kiss. – Kurt._

Blaine feels his blood rush.

* * *

The next day, Blaine goes to class with a goofy smile on his face waiting for Kurt to walk in and sit in front of him. He isn't disappointed when Kurt strolls in, winking at him lazily before he sits down and leans back easily in his desk. Blaine makes it halfway through the class without speaking to him. He holds himself back, drawing doodles in the margins of his notes, looking up occasionally to stare at the back of Kurt's head and then hastily copying what Mr. Lawrence was writing on the board. It is only when Mr. Lawrence is called to the office for a phone call that Blaine breathes out a quiet "Kurt."

The pink hair boy turns around, staring at Blaine with coal-lined blue eyes. He smiles slightly.

"Yeah, baby?"

Blaine's heart flutters in his chest. He blushes slightly, peaking up at Kurt under his eyelashes.

"D-do you want to come over sometime and study with me for the test in here on Friday?"

Kurt watches him for a minute, tongue stuck in his cheek before nodding, while a smirk decorates his pink lips. "Sure, baby."

He turns back around, facing the front of the room and leaving Blaine to his own butterfly filled stomach.

* * *

Honestly, Blaine had really invited Kurt over to study, but some things are more important that school. Like Kurt's lips… or his waist or his legs with are currently bracketing Blaine's on top of his bed. He reaches up, cupping the back of Kurt's neck and sliding his fingers through the bottom strands of his hair. He hears a whine glide through the air, but he doesn't know if Kurt made it from having his hair pulled or if it had slipped from Blaine's lips after Kurt had slid the ball of his tongue ring over the ridges on the top of Blaine's mouth. Blaine's hands slip down, fisting in Kurt's black t-shirt and pulling him closer to his own chest. Kurt falls easily into Blaine's arms, letting his groin rest soundly against Blaine. Blaine pulls back, overwhelmed by all of the feelings in his chest, and releases a long, high whine.

It is, of course, the perfect moment for Rachel to open his bedroom door and storm in, house phone in her left hand.

"OHMYGOD!" She screams and Blaine can hear his father through the telephone, screaming out a stream of "_Rachel! What is it? What's happened? Are you and Blaine okay? Rachel!"_

"No. No. No."


	10. Chapter 10

When Blaine shows up for school the next day, all eyes are on him. He really, really thought that maybe the attention wouldn't bother him anymore but the sweat beads in his armpits and in the palms of his hands, making it difficult to grip onto his binder, held in front of his chest like a barrier. As he makes his way to his locker, people stop talking and then whisper as he passes and the rational side of his brains argues that they probably aren't even talking about him. However, the irrational side is positively positive that they are. He messes up his locker combination on the first try because the girls next to him are burning holes in the side of his face with their coal-lined eyes, but he gets it right the second time. Pulling the books he needs out and avoiding eye contact as more people turn to look at him as they pass, Blaine thinks to himself that he definitely isn't just paranoid. It takes him a second, but his avoidance techniques float back and, like flipping a switch, shoulders are hunched over and chin to chest and Blaine makes his way to first period. When he makes it into class and has to walk passed the football players that surround his desk suddenly, Blaine knows for sure that his peers have been talking about him.

"Hey faggot, heard you been taking it up the ass from Hummel…"

His blood runs cold and he tries desperately to ignore the comment, not to let it sink into his stomach and make him feel like vomiting. He seriously debates picking up his books and walking back out but the teacher comes in and closes the door just as the bell rings and he is stuck.

"C'mon queer, if you can take it up the ass you could at least tell us all about it."

* * *

Kurt never really worried about being late to class, but when the skanks find him before school and tell what they've heard about him and his 'new fucktoy…' well, it's a day to be on time. He even beats Blaine to class, and he's almost embarrassed when Mr. Too-bald-and-too-fat shoots him a look of pure disbelief. He keeps his eyes on the door, but as the bell rings and the door is closed, Blaine never makes it to class. Kurt doesn't really worry; maybe Blaine was sick or too embarrassed to come to school. He ignores the slight knowing in his stomach that something is probably wrong and zones out of the lecture on solutions and substances.

It is when Blaine doesn't show up for P.E. and Kurt had seen him for a split second in the hallway that he gets worried. He leaves on his normal clothes and slips out of the door to look around the school to see where Blaine might be. Checking the bathrooms and finding nothing, and then checking his annoying sisters' car and also finding nothing, Kurt had almost given up all hope when he catches a glimpse of a gingham sleeve around the corner of the building. Worry knotting in his stomach, Kurt follows the light blue pattern around the corner and finds the younger boy curled in on himself on the ground.

"Blaine?" He whispers it, so not to startle him, but Blaine flinches back anyhow. His face looks awful, stained with tears and his breath is obviously uneven. Despite the uncomfortably with sitting on the ground in his new jeans, Kurt settles his ass on the concrete and reaches to lace his fingers with Blaine's.

"Blaine, what happened?" It was better, he thought, to ask what happened because he knew what the fucking matter was. His sister was the matter with her nosy personality and big mouth. She probably hadn't even waited to hear Blaine explain about their relationship before she texted all of her friends.

"They… they all think that I'm a slut," He whispers, eyes trained to the rough fabric of his red jeans and his fingers stretch out like they want to shake Kurt off, but he holds on tightly.

"Blaine, baby, you aren't a slut," Kurt barely lets a chuckle follow his words, before Blaine whips his head up and glares at the older boy.

"I know that I'm not a slut, but having someone call me that is degrading, Kurt, and it hurts my feelings," He says, tears welling up around the amber and falling it, fat down his cheek.

"Blaine, having them call you a slut or… or faggot can't always hurt your feelings…" Kurt trails off, cupping the boy's cheek and Blaine's eyes scan over his face, taking in the sincere look and then he stares, hard into Kurt's eyes and opens his mouth.

"I have to tell you about something… Before I was homeschool, there was this dance…"


End file.
